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Being the one who oversees the F/A-18F in the 15th and have flown regularly with the E variant on the public server I know of the issues you speak of and I will be able to give you some tips and tricks to work around them for a more enjoyable flight. Though first I want to say that the F/A-18 mod wasn't choosen to replace the F35 because of its popularity or the media attention it gains around the world or the lack thereof in the F35s case. Popularity is subjective. As the good Major Caesar pointed out were that the Firewill F35 were incredibly overpowered in near everything it did with even a brand new arma pilot and it was insanely hard to be countered against during our official missions because of the stealth capabilities. The F/A-18 was choosen because it provides a more balanced platform both for ACE and more importantly Zeus. For ACE it puts the skill required to operate back to the pilots and it gives more breathing room to zeus operators who have the tool to keep a 18 on its toes. As for the issues you are experiencing. It's mostly down to the E variant. Details below; Targeting Whacked While the F is worse the E to has issue displaying the triangle or square on the RWR because of its sensors are more directed the further the distance to the target. As you get closer to each other they appear more consistently. In short you have to use your speed to get in closer to the target and dodge anything they throw at you at the same time. I'd advice an about 60-70 degree angle toward them. Head on can lead to a mission to the face Sights The sights are off by default. You can turn them inside the cockpit on the very top left. There is two buttons called "A/A" and "A/G". If you mean that it has no IR sights with the A/A missiles then those will appear with the A/A and if you have those missiles selected. Laser turns off This is a E variant bug. I know what you mean and for what I know of it you cant fix it. When I fly the E varient in the public serverI don't use any laser guided munitions. I use 500 Ib Mk82 dumb bombs and AGM-65Gs If there is a F variant in the server then we can use the E2 with the WSO. But as for laser guided bombs I'd suggest avoiding those entirely as they are RHS. We dont have Firewill weapons on that server anymore and I've experienced RHS LGB constanting miss where my laser is pointing despite that the same bomb from AWS would had no problems. Pylons I'd advice using ACE to load the pylons. The service menu build into the 18 mod is questionable at best The F/A-18 mod is very fragile and it is not uncommon that it breaks in some way shape or form beyond what you have experienced. Being editing by Zeus for example can completely make the pylons freak out. If you can use the F over the E. It is far less buggy. I hope the above provided some light to your questions. You can find me in teamspeak if you want more information or guidances

What do you mean by a "sight" ? Do you mean the camera or the reticle within the cockpit? The camera definitely has IR. Similarly, I've never had the issue you describe with the laser. The 18 does have a much narrower angle with which to spot the laser, maybe try to make sure you're approaching the target head on at a proper angle. This would be an especially big shift for individuals who only use the APKWS missiles which are overpowered and essentially able to turn on a dime. I recommend not using those and instead learning how to use bombs like the GBU-12 if that's the issue. The pylon losing loadout thing is well documented. You just need to double check that the loadout is really loaded before takeoff, there isn't any fix I've found. FWIW, we swapped to the 18 because the "amazingly easy" maneuverability of the F35 is incredibly overpowered. The AV8 was likewise very overpowered, although admittedly less so as the AV8 is just slower and lacks the organic stealth stat of the 35. The F-18 mod we use is more challenging sure if you only used the other aircraft as overpowered death machines, but it's more fun too if you know what you're doing.